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Did Charlie Brooker Know? Or Did He Just Get Very Lucky?

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The first episode of British sci-fi anthology TV show Black Mirror, by Charlie Brooker for Channel 4, is infamously gross. Spoilers below.

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Titled The National Anthem, the plot begins with the kidnap of a much loved British princess, as a blackmail threat is delivered to the British government. It states that if the Princess is not to be killed, the Prime Minister, (based on current PM David Cameron) must have sex with a pig, transmitted live on television. The characters go through tortuous attempts to avoid this eventuality, but in the end, the Prime Minister is forced by public pressure to undergo the act. The episode then explores the after effects of the event, revealed as an art project gone to extremes.

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Tomorrow's Daily Mail newspaper is hitting the streets of London right now. It leads with serialised extracts of a new book Call Me Dave, written by ex-treasurer of the Conservative Party, and major party donor and politician, Lord Ashcroft. The extracts make a number of allegations against Prime Minister David Cameron, including drug use.

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But it is clear that one allegation will titillate the public more than any other.

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The question to be asked – did Charlie Brooker, whose early career as a comic book artist for Oink, before his satirical on-line work saw him courted by big media, know about this story? And found a way to fictionalise it in Black Mirror?

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Or did he just get really, really lucky?

Black Mirror gained worldwide attention after being made available on Netflix, and a US series is planned. The complete series so far can be purchased here.

Thanks to BBC Radio 4's Nick Sutton for the scans.

UPDATE: Charlie Brooker has commented and replied to comedian Emma Kennedy…

And… yes. #snoutrage. Or #hameron. Or #piggate.

Though there is another news story doing the rounds again…

 

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Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
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